Making A Difference

Pub-Shub, And Curry In No Hurry

An Indian in Britain wants a drink. What does he do? He goes to an Indian pub!

Advertisement

Pub-Shub, And Curry In No Hurry
info_icon
E
info_icon

Once enough Indians had moved up beyond factory work, their houses bought and their cars parked, spare cash was no longer seen as something to add to your savings. And new money asks to be spent on dressing up and stepping out every other day. No more do you just save off England, and survive it socially somehow. The Indian way of life has gone public, and the Indian pubs are now one of the most inviting faces of that new confidence. That means you can go out and be just as Indian as you are. It's the settled sort of thing to do.

"Look around, can you see these people going to a white English pub?" asked Shyambhai. No, you couldn't. Not the family of six at the table sitting by the door, not the couple behind them along with a friend they had invited, not the group with two kids somewhere between eight and 12—creating a children-friendly pub that has come to England as a quiet Indian revolution. And not even the very white Dave who said, "You know, I have started coming here more since this place became Indian. Because it's just gentle, I come here with my girlfriend, she loves it, and we don't like either of us to go to a white pub any more." Dave spoke after getting himself another pint at the bar. Indians had once found new liberation in ordering beer after beer at an English pub. Here, Dave now found it liberating to adopt an Indian pub for his evening pints.

Some Indian pubs mimic the English pubs more than others. And so do their customers. The pub has a long tradition of attracting the male who doesn't have a woman waiting for him in the evening, or, one he does not really want to be with. It's the old British refuge for a Boys Only night out, or for a man without a woman. And given the rising divorce or at least separation rates, even among the Indian community, there is a growing market in pubs for that kind of man...that's when you need a home away from home, a club away from a pub. Panthers in Wembley is that kind of place.

Advertisement

info_icon

In such a situation an English pub like The Hare and Goose wouldn't fit the bill. It would still be Bollywood-illiterate, it might not serve pakoras, and it certainly wouldn't have anything like the four members of the Geet Gunjan Orchestra in their equally faded crimson shirts at the Boulevard this evening. Owner Hasubhai Patel finds a free moment after coming in as Voice of Mukesh to announce himself. "I am a Mukesh fan, you know. I also sing Mukesh songs."

It probably isn't his singing that brings the Indians in. He just needs to be indulged because he owns the place. And, of course, he is a Mukesh fan. You might skip his singing, but you could hardly miss that banner up at the front of the club: "Khaana yahaan, peena yahaan, iske siva, jaana kahaan."

Advertisement

Tags

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement